Beginning June 2 we will be at Anchorage Community House’s new location in the Turnagain Arts Building!

All beings by nature are Buddha... — Hakuin Zenji

About AZC

The mission of the Anchorage Zen Community is to realize, embody, and communicate the teachings of the Buddha as conveyed by the Soto school. Anchorage Zen Community strives to integrate formal Zen practice and everyday life for personal and social transformation.

Our move to Anchorage Community House in February of 2019 opened up new possibilities for practice and fellowship. Our May news is that Anchorage Community House is moving to a new, bigger space.Beginning June 2 we’ll be meeting at ACH’s new location at 4105 East Turnagain Blvd, Suite A. We are excited for the next chapter and look forward to connecting further with our community and sharing our practice for the sake of all beings. For more on the June move, click here. For more on volunteering as a Sunday Opener in the new space click here.

Nirvana is here, before your eyesThis very place is the Lotus LandThis very body the Buddha – Hakuin Zenji

For thirty years, small groups of people have been practicing the way of the Buddha here in Anchorage. We have carried our practice into our daily lives as we have cleaned creeks, visited prisoners, celebrated Buddha’s birthday and enlightenment, held services and activities for children, organized interfaith potlucks and sat with the dying and chanted for the dead.

The current head priest of the community is Genmyo Zeedyk. She joined us in January 2012.

In the midst of the busyness of life, we continue to offer a place to practice just sitting in silence. We invite you to join us.

What is Zen?

Many Westerners have misunderstandings about Zen and about Buddhism more broadly.

Zen is a set of teachings and practices aimed at helping students minimize suffering in their lives and awaken to reality “just as it is.” As a school of Buddhism, Zen is generally considered a religion, but it is important to note that Zen is not concerned with whether or not gods exist, how the universe came to be, or what happens to us after we die.